The only institution that really counts is trust, if you like. And something’s got to allow that to build. Property rights are just another expression of trust, aren’t they? I trust you to deliver this property to me. I trust somebody else to allow me to keep this property if I acquire it from you.
But human beings are spectacularly good at destroying trust-generating institutions. They do this through three creatures: chiefs, thieves, and priests.
Interview with Science writer Matt Ridley on causes of poverty and prosperity:
http://www.reason.com/news/sho…
Please share widely!
The first paragraph, I thought, was from the Geico ad where the guy falls onto the lizard. In unrelated news, a quotation that has always stuck with me (for personal reasons, obviously):
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p>”There is in every village a torch – the teacher; and an extinguisher- the clergyman” — Victor Hugo
Is a popular television show in China called “Foreigners singing Chinese songs.” It’s an expression of how insecure the CCP (which completely controls all TV in China) is. They think that having random foreigners singing in Chinese somehow validates their governing of the country. The quality of the singing ranges from good to atrocious, but that’s not important. It’s foreigners!
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p>So here we have an English zoologist who contracted Libertarianism in the three years he lived here. Now he’s getting quoted by small-government types here in the US. A foreigner, who says he’s a liberal, singing Libertarian songs!
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p>Too bad the song sounds just as off as when it’s sung by the domestic bird.